Edna's Self-Discovery In The Awakening

The action of self-discovery is one filled with many different obstacles and tough choices in the way. In Kate Chopín’s The Awakening, Edna faces difficulties in which she must face alone, due to the fact that she is considered different. The novel takes place during the 1890s when women were expected to just be housewives. All women, including Edna are expected to cook, clean, and take care of the children and house. But, they are also subjected to idolizing their husbands and the luxuries that they provide them with. Edna, however, does not enjoy this type of lifestyle, as well as worshiping her husband Leonce. In fact, Edna wishes for the complete opposite and wants to defy the typical expectations set by society. Edna awakens from her

Edna has always enjoyed painting, but doubts her abilities. As time progresses, she becomes more confident in her skill, allowing her to become more confident in herself as well. She views art as her passion and not just a pastime like the other creole women. This leads to her pursuing her passion in art more seriously than any other role she has to play in her life. Her transformation takes her from someone with no motivation to a passionate individual as she talks about “becoming an artist [just] think of it" (Chopin 85). These ideals that Edna now has, have not just come from herself but also the women she surrounds herself with. On her journey of discovering herself, she forms relationships with multiple women who help shape her, specifically Mademoiselle Ratignolle, a devoted mother and wife, and Mademoiselle Reisz, an old lady who is a pianist. These two women who she meets stick with Edna through her path of not letting anyone control her as well as finding what she loves. They communicate with her about her struggles and what she wants out of life, helping her open up and express her frustrations she wishes to get rid of. Not only do they help her rediscover her passions, but they also introduce Edna to the world of music. To Edna music is more than the lyrics being sung, it is about the passion and images that are hidden underneath. She is able to find this through Mademoiselle Reisz’s, an older woman who is a pianist, music for it provides Edna with a sense of who she is: a woman full of passion for art and love. While listening to her play Edna’s emotions are broken down for one of the very first times as she was filled with the "very passions [of emotions that] arouse within her soul, swaying it, lashing it, as the waves daily beat upon her splendid body” (Chopin 35). Every little aspect of the different forms of art and people in her life allow Edna to